Iranians rally to mark the 38th anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the US embassy, in the capital, Tehran, on November 4, 2017.

Iranians have taken to the streets across the nation to commemorate the anniversary of the takeover of the American embassy in Tehran 38 years ago.

On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian university students took over the US diplomatic mission, which they believed had turned into a center of espionage aimed at overthrowing the then-nascent Islamic Republic.

This file image, dated November 4, 1979, shows Iranian students in front of the American embassy in Tehran, which they took over to stop concentrated espionage work and potential conspiracy against the Islamic Republic at the site.

Each year, Iranians rally outside the former US embassy building, also known as the “Den of Espionage,” to mark the event.

November 4, which falls on the 13th day of the Iranian calendar month of Aban, is also known as the Student Day and the National Day of the Fight against Global Arrogance.

‘US foreign policy has failed’

In an address to the Saturday rally in Tehran, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said that the US’s foreign policy had failed.

“American politicians and people are having second thoughts about their choice of president and acknowledge that the US has been defeated in the realization of its foreign policy,” Shamkhani said.

“The US has long been dealt blows by our country and our region and thus regularly bares its warmongering teeth. And when a missile is tested thousands of kilometers away, after [issuing empty] threats, all their president does is put out a tweet,” he said.

Shamkhani also noted that the countries that have supported the US’s anti-Iran stance over the past years were themselves at a loss.

“Those who either with the US or on their own acted against the Islamic Republic over the past four decades… both suffer from domestic instability and have no standing in the region,” the Iranian official said.

The participants in the Saturday rallies issued a final statement, among other things, thanking Iranian government officials for their decisive and united position against hostile US policies.